


Alive

by Cocoadile



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan, Tangled (2010)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Tangled (2010) Fusion, Bar Room Brawl, Blood Magic, Burglary, Campfires, Camping, Captivity, Criminal Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Developing Relationship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eren Yeager Sees The Ocean, Escape, Fairy Tale Elements, Falling In Love, Festivals, Forests, Getting to Know Each Other, Holding Hands, Hostage Situations, I Was High When I Wrote This, I'm On That Good Kush and Alcohol, Immortality, Imprisonment, Isolation, Kings & Queens, M/M, Minor Violence, On the Run, Organized Crime, Princes & Princesses, Robbery, Romance, Running Away, Shingeki no Kyojin: Kuinaki Sentaku | Attack on Titan: No Regrets Spoilers, Tags May Change, Tangled (2010) References, Theft, Thief Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Trapped, Trapped In A Tower
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-15
Updated: 2015-01-14
Packaged: 2018-03-07 10:39:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3171716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cocoadile/pseuds/Cocoadile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi, a criminal living in the slums of Stohess, has always had a knack for stealing. He mastered the art of breaking and entering and exploits this talent to sell to the Black Market. After immense amounts of planning, he decides to pull of the ultimate heist: steal the lost Prince of Stohess' crown.<br/>Things don't always go as he plans and he ends up meeting a boy locked away in a tower. Together, they go on an adventure of a lifetime, running from the law and find out what it really means to be alive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alive

The life of a criminal isn't easy at all. Once your name starts to get notorious and wanted posters with your face on them start popping up, then it really gets hard. You can't trust anyone and you have to stay hidden or risk having someone turn you in for the bounty.

Levi knew the only way to escape the life of poverty was through money. The world revolved around it and he was determined to get a hold of it, it was his only hope to leave slums. If he failed, he could face being hung or life in prison. The stakes were high and the odds were against him, but he was willing to risk it all.

The light patter of footsteps against the roof tiles barely reached Levi's ears as he sidled along the rooftops of the palace. He continued quietly until he reached the edge of the roof. From his view, he could see the throne room across the courtyard. That's where the King and Queen of Stohess were usually at this hour along with the royal guard.

The sun was steadily rising in the sky, the light providing many shadows thanks to the many towers and high rises of the palace. It would be noon in a couple of hours and time was running out, he had to act now.

Levi could feel his heart beat just a little stronger than usual in his chest and a trickle of perspiration on his temple from the direct sunlight on his face. He swiftly wiped at his face before plunging his hand into his satchel, pulling a slingshot out of it, along with a few stones, and pulled the elastic string back with one of rocks in place. He lifted the slingshot in front of his face and aimed the shot to the many large stain-glassed windows. He released a steady breath. Precision was everything for this plan, if he missed his targets then he was gonna have to scramble and try to think of a new distraction. He had to stay calm and collected if he was gonna pull of this heist.

With his teeth pressing down on his lip in concentration, he released the string and the rock shot off across the courtyard. The rock shattered the window on impact. A scream was heard then followed by shouts of many people in the throne room. Levi quickly shot off another stone at the adjacent window and watched as the glass fell in large pieces. A third window was broken and that's when Levi heard the commotion of the palace guards.

Quickly, Levi ran up the slope of the roof and hid behind the peak of the roof, the angle providing him with coverage. He carefully peered over the top and saw the guards congregating by the shattered windows inside the throne room. He could see the King with the Queen behind the guards looking quite shaken and worried.

Levi smirked at his handiwork, looked away and quickly slid to the bottom edge of the roof where he continued to follow the edge to another part of the palace. The roof led him to a short glass dome, jutting only about 5 feet from the roof. The structure was made of transparent glass, proving natural light to the room below. Levi looked back in the direction of the throne room, which was now out of sight due to a large tower. He looked at the courtyard and saw no guards. He looked down into the room below him and saw guards stationed around a short marble column. On top of the column was a shiny gold crown encrusted with many precious jewels and stones.

That was Levi's prize. He eyed the crown with great want. But the plan was still in motion and he couldn't have it just yet.

The guards were stationed facing away from Levi so he knew they couldn't see him at the moment. He waited a minute until he heard a door burst open down below. A couple of guards entered the room and exchanged words with the guards in the room. Levi ducked out of the view and carefully pried one of the glass sections of the dome open and heard them shout words of ' _attempted assassination of the royal family_ ' and ' _all guards are to report to the throne room immediately_ '. Everything was falling into place. Levi heard the stomping of feet leaving the room and then a door slamming shut. He paused for a few moments, then heard a lock click.

"That's right, dumbasses, go check on the poor King and Queen," Levi darkly muttered to himself.

Levi pried the glass window section open completely and peered inside the room and found no one left. Opening his satchel again, he stuffed his slingshot back in and pulled out a grappling hook. He threw the grappling hook onto the edge of the roof and pulled it. It held in place and then he ducked into the glass dome, slowly lowering himself into the room. He carefully slide down, his hands just a little loose around the course rope to prevent a rope burn. He dropped down a few feet away from the marble column and he eyed the crown in wonder. Everything was going perfectly according to plan.

He carefully grabbed the crown by the edges and ran his thumb along the gold. It was warm from the constant sunlight and gleamed in the light. Levi gently put in his satchel, scanned his surrounds one last time before climbing the rope again. He made it about 6 feet off the ground when he heard something break up above.

He gasped as gravity pulled him back down. With his quick reflexes, Levi landed on the balls of his feet and he angrily looked up at the sky light.

"What the hell?" He growled in frustration, tugged on the rope again, and heard scrapping on the tiles on the roof. He coiled the rope and pulled the grappling hook through the sky light and caught it as it fell down to him.

Now he was fucked. The only way he had to escape and the stupid fucking roof tiles couldn't hold his damn grappling hook. He huffed with his anger ready to boil over and pulled at the roots of his hair.

"God fucking dammit! Now what?!" Levi knew swearing and shouting wouldn't get him anywhere but the anger he had was quickly dissipating and turning into worry. He couldn't escape now. Any moment he could get caught.

Levi whirled around at the sound of voices coming from behind the door. If he thought he was fucked before, he was wrong. _Now_ , he was fucked.

At moments like this, when doom appears to be inevitable, you learn to think off the top of your head. When all goes to shit, don't give up until you can no longer fight.

"Fuck it," he muttered and dashed to door. He flushed himself against the stone wall next to the door hinge. He heard the voices come closer behind the door and the rattling and jingling of keys. Levi felt his heart to pick up speed again and clenched his fists to his side. The lock on the outside of the door rattled and the latch released. Levi held his breath as the door swung open and almost hit him, before discreetly and slowly stopping the door from swinging all the way back.

The footsteps of guards entering the room filled chamber again and along with loud chatter. He heard them talking of possible security breaches and that the culprit was still at large. Levi couldn't stop the smirk from reaching his face. Oh, the irony.

But, it was only a matter of time before they noticed the crown was missing from it's rightful place. Gross, he was starting to perspire again.

Levi peaked around door and saw the guard standing together in a group chatting normally. They weren't distressed so he was still in the clear and they didn't notice anything yet. They guards were facing away him again and weren't in their stationed places. Maybe luck was back on his side.

Quietly he moved around the door and into the open. No one has noticed him yet. Levi silently backed up into the hallway leading to the room and kept his eyes on the guards. Still in the clear.

"Hey where's the crown?!"

Shit.

"The crown is gone!"

The guards swiveled around and scanned the room in quick haste. One of the guards looked toward the door and locked eyes with Levi.

Double shit.

"An intruder! There in the hallway!"

Levi was already in action. It was fight or flight and he was gonna run. Levi felt his blood pumping as he turned and sprinted down the hallway, rounding a corner only to see a group of more guards walking towards him. Maybe luck wasn't on his side after all.

Levi preferred to avoid confrontation is necessary, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and he was definitely desperate. Levi skid to a halt as the guards took notice of him, and he could hear the guards from behind catching up.

Shouting was coming from all sides of him and he thought maybe it was time to panic. He had only seconds to get out of here and he was trapped from both sides. With his heart in his throat and the grappling hook fisted in his hand, he spotted the hollow stone windows.

This was his only chance, so with nothing to lose, Levi grabbed the edges of the window, pulled himself through and jumped. He hit the downward slope of the roof immediately and ran with it. With the momentum of the speed he was picking up, he jumped from the edge of the roof and stumbled onto the next roof a floor lower.

Levi heard the angry shouts of the guards from the hallway growing fainter and fainter. No doubt they must be alerting the rest of the palace that a thief stole the crown. He jumped again onto another roof, now nearing the edge of the palace property.

The adrenaline was pumping through his veins and he felt unstoppable as the wind pulled his hair back. He continued his sprint and jumped down from the low roof to the nearest building, the palace area now merging into the town. While still running, he reached and pulled a cloak out of his satchel and threw it on. He weaved his way through crowds of people and startled civilians toward the bridge. Levi was in the more prosperous part of the kingdom and seeing a hooded figure running through the plaza wasn't exactly normal here. He ignored the shouts heading his way from angry people he had shoved out of way. It seems the news hadn't reached the townspeople yet.

"Too many fucking people, dammit," Levi growled out, with the little breath he had. The crowds slowly thinned out as he headed away from the plaza. Now in the residential area of the kingdom, he didn't see anyone out and throwing a quick glance over his shoulder, didn't see anyone pursuing him either. He kept his head down and the hood from the cloak up until he reached the bridge.

The bridge was the only direct entryway into the kingdom since it had been build on an island. The bridge lead to the nearby forest. The forest was marginally less populated than the island, so there was only a slim chance of Levi running into someone in the woods if he stayed off the main trail.

Levi continued his sprint across the stone bridge and disappeared into the forest.

He did it. He actually did it! He single handedly stole the Lost Prince's crown! Off all the shit Levi has stolen and sold over the Black Market, this was definitely the highlight of Levi's 'career'.

He was definitely thankful for the constant shade that the forest provided, now getting a chance to cool down from that long sprint. Levi's pace slowed to a walk and he leaned against a tree as he caught his breath. He was feeling extremely fatigued as he slowly felt his heartbeat calm. He was glad all the endurance training he put himself through was finally paying off.

Levi pushed off the tree and started a slow trek on a small path, away from the entrance of the forest. Only a few minutes into his walk on the trail, he saw a poster plastered onto one of the trees. Upon closer inspection, he saw it was a wanted poster with his name written across the top. A little excerpt was written below it which read:

> _'Notorious criminal known for stealing private property. This person is dangerous and extreme caution should be exuded if encountered. Please report to the Military Police for a large reward.'_

Levi wouldn't normally consider himself 'dangerous' but in recent circumstances, he really couldn't argue and he looked on with good humor. Confrontation was such a waste of time and time was always of the essence. If there was no other way to complete his objective without violence then he would clock some heads if necessary. As his eyes scanned the drawing, he frowned at the yellowed page. The drawing depicted him was mostly accurate _except_ that large and unattractive hooked nose they stuck on his face. A growl erupted from his throat as he snatched the paper off the tree and crumpled it up. He opened his satchel and stuffed it towards the bottom of the bag. Levi may be many things, such as a 'notorious criminal', but he was not a litterbug.

Muttering dark words to himself, he continued uphill and followed the trail until it slowly faded away. Levi continued walking until he felt the ground faintly shake. He paused and touched the ground and felt it thump quickly. He stood up and listened carefully and heard the sound of people shouting. People on horses. Of course it wasthe damn royal guards, who else would it be.

Levi took off in a run again with no particular destination in mind, only to get away from the guards and hide somewhere until things blow over. His plan had involved waiting a few days before sneaking back into town to sell the crown to the top dealers in the Underground, but Levi wasn't one hundred percent sure he was gonna make it to see that day.

Ducking under branches and dodging trees, Levi ran on whatever energy he had left. The initial run from the palace had tired him out more than he had realized and he felt himself steadily slowing down. The sound of hooves and shouting from the guards grew louder as they approached.

"There he is!" a female voice shouted.

He's been spotted, great. Levi pushed his legs harder and jumped over log after log while ducking under branches and avoiding hanging vines. He spared a glance behind him and cursed to himself.

The man leading the rest of the guards on horseback was Mike Zacharias. That man was known throughout the kingdom for a nose like a damn Bloodhound that can track people for miles. No one has ever been able to escape the tracker, except Levi. Levi knew a thing or two about covering up his tracks, including his scent. Of course when he had the time to do so, unlike now.

The sound of bubbling water was approaching and Levi knew he could possibly be coming to a dead end. He veered his path right and ran along a line of trees. He threw his cloak off in hope of messing up Mike's scent trail. His direct path was coming to a ledge and he had no where to go from there, except the drop into the river.

Levi pushed his muscles with the last boost of adrenaline, using the last of his strength and pushed off the edge of the ledge and grabbed onto a hanging vine. The momentum carried him over the running water and his boots skimmed the top of the river. He reached the other side of the forest ground and stumbled as the vine gave way and broke. He landed into a stumbling run and continued with the sound of angry voices trailing off behind him.

Levi ran straight into a steep hill and before he could slow down, he lost his footing and tumbled down the hill. He rolled over shrubbery and was tossed around until he reached the bottom of the hill where his body stopped at the base of a vine covered wall. Levi should have been battered and beaten after this bad fall, but after a quick pat down, he didn't find any major injuries. After his tumble, he was nearing exhaustion. After catching his breath and standing up straight despite his protesting limbs and the dull ache in his muscles, he reached his hand out to steady himself against the wall.

What Levi didn't expect of all things to happen at that very moment, was to fall _through_ the wall. He fell on his side, no energy to cushion the fall, and yelped in surprise. He groaned in frustration and frowned at the prospect of dirt touching his face.

He immediately froze at the sound of someone sniffing and hooves pounding into the ground. Levi held his breath as the sniffing sounds came close to the wall of vines he had fallen through. There was a moment of silence then the sound of the horses continued on away from Levi's position and he let out a shaky sigh of relief. Levi didn't dare move for a solid minute before he sat up right and viewed his surroundings.

"What the hell?"

He had never been in this part of the forest since he probably would have recalled seeing a fucking large stone tower standing in the middle of a valley.

The surrounding mountains provided cover and enclosed the area from outsiders. Levi could see a waterfall emptying in a small basin before traveling downstream wherever it went. While a tower in the middle of nowhere seemed suspicious, the tower didn't look particularly inhabitable so perhaps Levi has found his hiding place for the next few days, at least until tomorrow before he could find somewhere to go.

He pulled himself up to a stand and ventured into the grassy clearing. His walk was silent with the cushioning of the grass and he ventured right up to the base of the tower. There was foliage and vines growing up the stones of the tower and when he pulled at the greens, they didn't come loose or disturb the stones.

Levi took out his grappling hook and slipped on of the hooks through his belt loop just in case he needed it before backing up a few feet. He picked up speed and jumped, grabbing onto the vines. He stayed there, only a couple feet off the ground for a few moments before continuing the climb. The vines didn't pull out as he grabbed them and he steadily went higher and higher.

After some time of climbing, Levi glanced down and saw he could well over be one hundred feet off the ground. Levi wasn't afraid of heights, but he didn't really enjoy hanging off vines that could possible break at any moment and send him falling to his death. As he reached the top the vines became sparser, but he was in reach of the wood support beams for the top of the tower. He reached up and grabbed one to pull himself up then reached up again to grab onto the next wood support ledge. His fingers barely brushed against the underside of the wood and these were the kind moments that made Levi curse himself for his short stature.

Levi didn't see many options for himself there, but he wasn't going to waste this long ass climb for nothing. With one hand still gripping the support beam, he unhooked the grappling hook from his belt loop and carefully wrapped the end of the rope around his hand. He swung his arm back as far as it could go and release the hook. The hook traveled up and through the open window above him out of sight. After a tug to make sure it was properly hooked onto something secure, he let go of the vines and swung back with the rope. He steadied himself then pulled himself up and onto the platform in front of the window.

He carefully entered the tower and pulled the rest of the rope hanging outside into the tower and threw it to the floor along with his satchel. He walked in a few feet and observed his surroundings. He was standing in what seemed like the center area with a nearby flight of stairs leading to the top of the interior and saw there were a some drapes on higher levels which probably blocked off rooms from sight. There were many platforms and ledges around the inside that were connected by ladders. The whole inside interior appeared drab and very unfurnished and the whole place seems very cramped. He couldn't imagine someone actually living here for long periods of time.

Levi has fought against many people since his time of living in the slums and can say not many things can surprise him. He was used to 'surprise' attacks and attempted ambushes, but what he never expected was for a large pillow case to be shoved over his head and upper body.

Immediately he sprang into action and thrashed about only to have a pair of unknown arms grab him and lift him off the ground.

"What the fuck?! Let go, asshole!" Levi growled as he felt his arm pinned to his side from the restriction of both the damn pillow case and the unknown arms.

Levi could only see white at the moment, but shot his leg back into the mysterious person's shin. He heard a gasp of pain and wiggled free of the grip only to fall onto the floor, trying to lift the pillow case off him. Only a second later did he feel the person grab him and force him into what he could guess was a chair. He tried to stand and wrestled with the unknown person but felt something being wrapped around his torso as he struggled. He felt it go tighter and tighter around him, the back of the chair flush against him.

He shot his leg forward and was glad to come into contact with someone's shin again. He heard a growl of pain before the felt whatever his bindings were go around his ankles. He trashed about and rocked the chair until it fell over, landing on his left side. He felt his legs forced against the chair legs and he stopped moving as the chair was pulled back up.

"Listen here, dickwad, that was a fucking cheap ass move to attack from behind," Levi growled to the invisible assailant. "Untie me so I can kick your ass!"

Levi heard the footsteps go around to the back of him, and honestly, he didn't know what to expect next. He felt the pillow case shift around him and felt it was being carefully pulled up. The fabric was going up, but the binds were too tight to be pulled up with it. The footsteps moved back around him and he felt a presence right in front of his face. The pillow case was tugged above his shoulders and with a final pull, came up and over his head.

Levi came face to face with gold eyes. He almost felt mesmerized for a moment. The color was so rich and bright, it was like someone poured honey straight into this person's irises.

That moment came and passed, after all this was still the same person who threw a pillow case over him and tied him to a chair. He looked down at himself and saw the stranger has used Levi's own grappling hook to tie him to the chair.

Levi really looked at the person this time and was a bit surprised to see a young boy. Or man. He couldn't exactly say with the youthful complexion the boy had. Along with a full head of brown hair, the boy had a slender build, but had pair of broad shoulders. He looked like a teenager to be more exact. Meanwhile, Honey Eyes was watching him carefully.

"Sorry, I can't do that," Honey Eyes finally replied.

Levi felt a little surprised, he honestly forgot he had spoken to the boy earlier. Honey Eyes had a pleasant enough voice, but now Levi was getting distracted. He still felt a familiar frown come over his face.

"Oh, and why is that?" Levi sarcastically spat.

Honey Eyes looked confused for a second then stood in silence for a moment, probably thinking.

"Well, I need your help to-"

"Nope," Levi interrupted. "I don't care what your problem is, I don't have time to be helping brats like you." Levi spoke with finality and watched the boy sigh in exasperation.

"Would you please let me finish? Just hear me out!" Honey Eyes crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Levi expectantly. Levi noticed the shackles and chains hanging from the boy's wrists for the first time. They jingled as the boy moved about. His eyes trailed after the long chains and saw them disappear behind one of the draped rooms to his right. The boy saw Levi's eyes observing his shackles and self-consciously squeezed his arms tighter over his chest.

Honey Eyes didn't wait for Levi to respond, probably taking his silence as an okay.

"Help me escape from here and take me to see the ocean then I want to see the floating lights," he demanded with a straight face.

Levi raised a brow at him. First he asks for help and now he's demanding things from him? This brat had some fucking nerve.

"You mean the Lantern Festival? You actually want to see that shit? Well, sorry, I'm not doing it. I have things to do and places to be," Levi snapped.

Honey Eyes actually looked surprised Levi had denied his request. His strong expression faltered for moment. His dark brows furrowed in contemplation and he stepped closer to Levi.

"If you don't, you'll never get your satchel back," he threatened ominously. Levi felt his eyes widen. He immediately scanned the room as much as he could and saw his satchel was out of sight. He was furious to say the least. First he ties him to a chair and gives a list of demands, then he blackmails him. Levi has done this countless of times to people when they possess something that he wants to steal, but he has never been on the receiving end of it. Levi had to give the brat some credit though, he had some guts.

"And I'm expecting company in a few hours. If they find you here, they _will_ kill you," Honey Eyes said in a hushed tone.

"Are you threatening me?" Levi growled.

"Yes."

Never mind, this brat has a pair of brass balls. Levi looked straight into the gold eyes and saw no bluff.

Levi weighed his options carefully. He could say no and possibly be killed by whoever this boy's 'company' was or go back into the woods and lead this brat around on a tour for a few days. The only risk of the latter was running into Mike and his team and possibly be captured. If he does take the brat out of this tower and things get hairy, then he could always ditch the brat if necessary.

The brat looked smug with his reply. He knew he had the upper hand with the situation. Levi finally relented.

"Fine. I'll do it. I'll take you to see the fucking ocean and you'll get to see the lanterns," Levi sighed.

Honey Eyes looked relieved and relaxed his stance before stiffening up again. He came close to Levi and brought himself down to eye level.

"Do you promise?" The boy looked earnest and was watching him carefully. Levi looked back at him in the eye and hardened his gaze. Honey Eyes held the eye contact and refused to look away.

"Promise. Now fucking untie me."

Honey Eyes' face broke out in a bright smile and Levi had a hard time looking away.


End file.
